This blog aims at bringing out the past glory of India, Hinduism and its forgotten values and wisdom. This is not copyrighted so as to reach genuine seekers of these information. Its my prayer that only genuine seekers - and not vandals & plagiarists - come to this site.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Added to the mis-guided approach in the name of reservation,to tackle the problem of uplifting the socially backward,is a dismal approach to higher education in Tamil nadu.

The government policy in doing away with CET for professional courses,dilution of syllabus,urge to show increased pass percentage by reducing the minimum pass percentageand liberal correction are doing more harm than good to the students.

Today a vast majority of Tamil nadu studentswho study in the state board streamare not capable of even giving a try in National competitive exams.

Not one from the State board can write IIT- JEE exam.

Only a handful ever give a try for AIEEE and BITS-SAT - but without success.

None of the state board students are capable of competing in CETs of other states.

The dilution of standard is to such an extent thatthey are at the mercy of private engineering colleges -which are the business houses of politicians.Every engineering college in the state is a 'who-is-who' business house of politicians.Every parent with wards in college- going age know'what- is what' of these collegesin fleecing in the name of fees.

But the AICTE will give a clean chit to them.Any fees commission may come and give its recommendation.But are those recommendations followed fully?With politicians ONLY in the business of running professional colleges,can there be any guess about the fees collected in colleges?

The plight of Tamilnadu students is indeed pathetic.Reservations had only helped the colleges,in luring all and sundry so thatall these colleges can fill up their seats.

BJP, take a backseat. You have already lost the general elections next year, and by a very huge margin. In what is touted to be a move to provide quality education to the common man, the number of IITs has been increased from 7 to 13 from this academic session, not counting IT-BHU and ISM Dhanbad. In another very efficient move, the present government seems to have satisfied the backward communities with a very magnanimous percentage set aside for admissions into various governmental educational institutions for higher education. And now that the Rajasthan government has ecstatically washed its hands off the Gujjar problem and passed the mantle to the centre, I am supremely confident that by the end of this year, Gujjars will have joined that coveted list that has been the massacre of so many innocent people and policemen.

It is quite evident that all these antics are cheap stunts by the government to garner a few million votes. But to stoop to this level while doing so? We have seen politicians make promises and break them. We have remotely heard of the paltry few who have managed to do some justice to their promises. But this is something new, a party fulfilling something that wasn’t even there in their manifesto. To quote,” The Congress has provided for reservations for Muslims in Kerala and Karnataka in government employment and education on the grounds that they are a socially and educationally backward class. The Congress is committed to adopting this policy for socially and educationally backward sections among Muslims and other religious minorities on a national scale” If you read into it a bit carefully, you can see the usage of Muslims in a very desperate attempt to show the “brotherly love” it feels. So, where did the government promise anything for higher education? Now, I am not the one to say that you must do only what you have written in the manifesto and nothing else. But do whatever you have promised, and then go for the other things. And making decisions such as the increase in the number of IITs and the reservation for OBCs at the fag end of the era is despicable.

So, is reservations and the increase in the number of IITs the end of all problems? I would say it is in fact, the beginning of a cancerous tumor that is going to ravage this country with everything that it’s got. Till now, amongst the youth preparing for the JEE, there used to be this drive and determination that they have to come out in flying colors and join one of the premier institutes of the country, if not the world. It used to be a tough exam, one that was the toughest undergrad exam in the world. And wham!! What happened? The government took a decision that the papers should be made easier, should serve the common man as a means to enter the top institutes. So, presently, the question paper pattern has been changed to make it easy, the cut-offs have been brought down, half the seats have been reserved for SCs, STs, OBCs and PHs, and the number of IITs have been increased. Quality education. Phshaw!!

Notwithstanding that move, the government introduced reservations in IIMs and other such institutions providing post-grad studies. In the verdict given in the Supreme Court, it was stated that the reservations are for those OBCs who are socially and educationally backward. If someone is a graduate, he is definitely not educationally backward. The whole point of this series of moves is to make the OBC category youth (I am using this term as it makes it easier for me to type) gullible and lead them into a false sense of security. In other words, if you are born an OBC, your life is a piece of cake. You get free education till the 12th, and then you join institutes like IITs, then take up a job or go into IIMs, where you have reservations, yet again. Then where from will the drive come, what will be his motive to lead a life if you hand everything to him in a silver platter? Even the parents of those students will provide them with misguided encouragement, telling them that they are OBCs and they are born with the right to squander all their time doing nothing.

In a recent study, it was found that about 14% of students in IITs are already from the OBC category. Then why this reservation?? What purpose does it serve?? After such a furor raised about the reservations, anyone should be ashamed to proudly proclaim himself an OBC and hence get a seat in any institution unless the person actually deserves it and is someone from a rural background with no access to a good education. You might say that they are graded amongst themselves, and then the ranks are given on the basis of the lowered cut offs. But to what purpose? The cut-offs are usually so low that even if you go ahead and mark random guesses on the paper, you might get more than the cut-off. Introducing the OBC cut-offs was pure foolishness and an insult to all those communities that are a part of it. In small letters, the reservation has blatantly told the communities that it’s not possible for them to compete with the others, and hence need nudges here and there to pull them through. Except that these are not just nudges, they are a free ride to the moon. There are people who have fought and come up using the reservation’s help and are largely successful today. I am very happy for them. But it will be such a slap on their face to see that the aforementioned reservations will be misused and mauled in such a way that it will be unrecognizable.

On top of all this, the government has given order that 6 more IITs are to be set up from this academic year, out of which the cities where they have to be set up for 3 of them haven’t been decided. Where will the government procure the infrastructure and the staff?? IITs as such are now under-staffed and are on a constant lookout for professors. Where do they hope to get a thousand more professors for this job?? Maybe the government’s next step will be to waive the PhD rule for recruiting professors in IITs and say that even B.Techs can apply.

Give the Congress 5 more years, every state, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands will have an IIT and an IIM. A few more communities will come forward asking for reservations, and what the heck, it will be granted. A separate women’s bill, granting them some reservations is also bound to come up. A few more commissions and panels will be set up to examine the findings of other panels and commissions. Jail sentences will be lessened for the reserved categories. A specific number of seats in a cinema hall will also be reserved. Couples looking for easy money will start an “Adopt an OBC and get rich” NGO. The bus seats will be divided according to category, and the maximum percentage of reservation will be given due importance. Likewise, in trains, special coaches will be attached, like the Ladies Only coaches. The examples are many and they all lead to the same question: Is the country going to dogs??

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

mam i have read your blog and i am happy to know that there are someone in this world to think about the pathetic plight of the students like me who are studying in the private engineering colleges. i am one of the thousands of youths studying in a private engineering college in tamilnadu, who are thriving for quality education that we are not getting there.These political(private) engineering colleges produces unemployabe graduates. I fear I will be also one among them....... Mam if u are interested please read my blog engineeringinstitutions.blogspot.com where i am sharing my and my friends experiences in a private college.

I have posted this write-up in my blog. You are not alone and I understand there are some core stories unsaid in your blog. I know what they can be.

Even i have first hand experience in them. But no one can save Tamil nadu students in particular - unless an autonomous body comprising purely of intellectuals and educationists is created at the National level and the educational system of entire India is brought under under such a body and turn it into a nation building and human resource building activity in all earnestness.

mam i feel very happy that you have read my blog and posted in yours. i completely agree with you mam that our institutions should come under an autonomous body comprising of intellectuals and educationists. i still dream of a day where all the engineering colleges have the quality of an IIT. mam I just shared another true story of me in the same blog. Please read and give your comment mam which is invaluable to me...